Notwithstanding Nigeria’s 7 percent annual GDP growth, which makes it the fastest growing economy in sub-Saharan Africa with high volume of building and infrastructure provision, most of its local construction industry players have continued to suffer stunted growth. The construction industry in Nigeria, analysts say, is a multi-billion dollar enterprise in which hardly any year falls short of expected windfalls coming the way of successful contractors who bid for construction projects, noting that the industry is a major component of any developing economy because it is a significant part of the GDP.
Updated 7 Years ago

Glenn Greenwald, who has made headlines around the world with his reporting on U.S. electronic surveillance programs, is leaving the Guardian newspaper to join a new media venture funded by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, according to people familiar with the matter. Greenwald, who is based in Brazil and was among the first to report information provided by one-time U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden, wrote in a blog post on Tuesday that he was presented with a "once-in-a-career dream journalistic opportunity" that he could not pass up.
Updated 7 Years ago

Investors cheered Yahoo Inc's plans to keep a larger-than-expected stake in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, overlooking continuing softness in its core online advertising business. Yahoo rose nearly 1 percent to $33.70 in afterhours trading as it said it would sell fewer shares than originally agreed from its 24 percent stake when Alibaba goes public.
Updated 7 Years ago

Following the identification of missteps in the just concluded privatisation of Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) successor companies by Atedo Peterside, chairman of the Technical Committee of the National Council on Privatisation (NCP), a prominent stalwart of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has joined the debate, describing the misstep as fraudulent bending of the rules. It would be recalled that Peterside had last week in an advertorial noted that the preferred bidders for Sapele defaulted in the payment of the balance which they promised to pay by the deadline date, adding that the NCP had referred the default situation to the Federal Ministry of Justice.
Updated 7 Years ago

Shareholders of Conoil Plc recently smiled home from the company’s annual general meeting held in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, following the payment of N694 million in dividends for the year ended December 31, 2012. The dividend translated to 100 kobo per share. Although the dividend is less than the 250 kobo paid for the 2011 financial year, shareholders were highly pleased considering the reduced earnings of the company for 2012. A steep rise in financing cost and other operational expenses depressed the profit after tax (PAT) of Conoil in 2012 to N714 million, from N2.997 billion in 2011.
Updated 7 Years ago

Nigeria’s external reserves, which have declined continuously in the last one month, stood at $45.096 billion on October 11. Data gathered from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) showed that the forex reserves, which are derived mainly from the proceeds of crude oil earnings, had depreciated by 2.95 per cent in the last one month, compared to the $46.467 billion it stood on September 11. The uninspiring performance of the reserves, according to findings, was as a result of the pressure faced by the naira; especially in the third quarter of the year, as well the decline in government’s revenues.
Updated 7 Years ago

Investors will have the opportunity to invest in a pan-African Information Communications Technology (ICT) firm in the stock market, as the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) prepares to list the shares of Computer Warehouse Group (CWG) in November. Although details of the listing were sketchy on Monday, it was gathered that the company would be listed by introduction and it is the first company to be listed this year.
Updated 7 Years ago

Fitch Ratings warned on Tuesday it could cut the sovereign credit rating of the United States from AAA, citing the political brinkmanship over raising the federal debt ceiling. "Although Fitch continues to believe that the debt ceiling will be raised soon, the political brinkmanship and reduced financing flexibility could increase the risk of a U.S. default," the firm said in a statement.
Updated 7 Years ago

Twitter Inc revealed on Tuesday a tripling in quarterly losses as it prepares to list on the New York Stock Exchange in one of the year's most anticipated IPOs. The online messaging service's decision to go with the older exchange deals a blow to the tech-heavy Nasdaq, which bungled Facebook Inc's 2012 offering. Twitter is now expected to kick off its investor roadshow on October 28 where it will pitch its offering to Wall Street before shares start trade in mid-November, two sources familiar with the situation said Tuesday.
Updated 7 Years ago

Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Finance Minister, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on Sunday in Washington DC, USA, lamented that Liechttenstein, continues to frustrate efforts by Nigeria to recover €185 million popularly called Abacha loot, after 14 years. There have been several hurdles put in Nigeria’s way in the central European nation’s courts, by the shell companies or their representatives, challenging every step, and that the World Bank has offered to help ensure that the recovered funds are judiciously utilised for the good of Nigerian.
Updated 7 Years ago